All things bear record · Isaiah

Isaiah 50

6 witnesses of Christ here.

The Rejected Redeemer

Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. Isaiah 50:1–2

The LORD asks why no one answered when he came, and says his hand is still strong enough to redeem. Jesus came to his own people, many did not receive him, and yet his power to save never weakened.

AttestedProphecy or typeHe speaks in the first person

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • a parallel account in 2 Nephi 7:1-2 — Jacob's version begins "Yea, for thus saith the Lord: Have I put thee away, or have I cast thee off forever?"
  • fulfilled by John 1:11 — "He came unto his own, and his own received him not."

Heavens Clothed in Blackness

I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering. Isaiah 50:3

The Lord can cover the heavens in darkness like mourning clothes. That picture was literally fulfilled when darkness covered the land as Christ died.

AttestedEchoAn echo of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • a parallel account in 2 Nephi 7:3 — The same verse in Jacob's record.
  • alluded to by Matthew 27:45 — "There was darkness over all the land."
  • alluded to by 3 Nephi 8:20-23 — Three days of thick darkness at his death.

The Obedient Servant Taught by the Father

The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. Isaiah 50:4–5

The Servant listens to the Father every morning, knows how to speak to the weary, and never rebels. Jesus spoke only what the Father taught him, gave rest to the weary, and was perfectly obedient.

AttestedProphecy or typeHe speaks in the first person

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • a parallel account in 2 Nephi 7:4-5 — The same passage in Jacob's record.
  • fulfilled by John 8:28 — "As my Father hath taught me, I speak these things."
  • fulfilled by Matthew 11:28 — "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden."

The Smitten Servant

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah 50:6

The Servant willingly lets himself be beaten, have his beard pulled out, and be spat on. Jesus freely suffered exactly this abuse at his trials before he was crucified.

AttestedProphecy or typeA prophecy of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him · a footnote points to Him · a Church study aid lists it

  • a parallel account in 2 Nephi 7:6 — The same verse in Jacob's record.
  • fulfilled by Matthew 26:67 — "Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him."
  • fulfilled by Matthew 27:26 — Pilate scourges Jesus.
  • fulfilled by Mark 15:19 — "They smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him."
  • the same event in 1 Nephi 19:9 — "They smite him, and he suffereth it; and they spit upon him, and he suffereth it."

Face Set like a Flint

For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. Isaiah 50:7–9

Trusting the Father, the Servant sets his face like a flint toward his suffering and knows the Father will vindicate him. Jesus steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and the Father justified him by raising him from the dead.

AttestedProphecy or typeA prophecy of Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • a parallel account in 2 Nephi 7:7-9 — The same passage in Jacob's record.
  • fulfilled by Luke 9:51 — "He stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem."
  • alluded to by Romans 8:33-34 — "It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died."

Obey the Voice of His Servant

Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. Isaiah 50:10

Those who fear the LORD obey the voice of his Servant, and anyone walking in darkness is invited to trust in the LORD's name. Following Christ and trusting his name is the way out of darkness.

AttestedProphecy or typeA pronoun that refers to Him

How we know: the chapter heading names Him

  • a parallel account in 2 Nephi 7:10 — The same verse in Jacob's record.
  • alluded to by John 8:12 — "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness."